The Blog

I’ve opined in the past that Piaget doesn’t get nearly the recognition it deserves in the realm of high-end luxury watchmaking. Piaget’s excellence isn’t just visible in their fine range of dress watches, or their own extremely thin and refined in-house movements. Piaget’s elaborate and extremely interesting tourbillon watches demonstrate once again how serious this brand is as a Manufacture of haute horlogerie.

Complications are not new to Piaget. In the late 90’s, I well remember admiring the now discontinued Governeur watch line which featured some very fine perpetual calendars, and even an absolutely extraordinary Grande et Petite Sonnerie containing a movement designed by none other than the brilliant Francois-Paul Journe. This latter movement served as a basis for Journe’s own Sonnerie Souveraine, one of the most staggering chiming wristwatches ever made.

For now, Piaget seems to be focusing primarily on tourbillons. This is understandable, as the public fascination with “the whirlwind” is nearly insatiable. Piaget’s creations will not disappoint; the fascinating Piaget Polo Tourbillon Relatif watch displays an extremely interesting orbital tourbillon whose mechanism is united with the minute hand. My favorite of the Piaget tourbillon watches, however, is the Emperador Tourbillon Skeleton. The Emperador case is a heart-stopper – curvaceous, sensual, intricately finished, and extremely elegant – and then you have the gorgeous openworked movement, with the large, flying tourbillon proudly ruling over all. Pink gold, white gold… doesn’t matter. It’s equally stunning